Your favourite sitcom

Elbow beards said:
Going through the decades I'd say.
Faulty Towers.
Porridge.
Open all hours.
Black adder.
The young ones.
Father Ted.
One foot in the grave.
Phoenix nights.
The inbetweeners.
Friday night dinner.

And two more obscure ones,
Game on.
Coupling.
Click to expand...

I was about to add Coupling - it's terrific.

Blackadder, Porridge, Fawlty Towers, Yes Minister are very difficult to beat.
Dad's Army had some brilliant episodes.

The first couple of series of Allo Allo were better than much of the later ones.
 
Only Fools And Horses, Peep Show and The Office as far as British ones.

Early Doors was great too.

The Royle Family started well, when the likes of Dave was a normal enough bloke but a bit dim. Then his character gradually got more stupid and spoke like kid and it felt a bit slapstick. It went from great to shite

The Inbetweeners was really well done, I'm glad they ended it after 3 seasons. (Apart from the film's). I wouldnt put it up there with the brilliance of some others but for what it was meant to be,they nailed it.
 
Mad Eyed Screamer said:
Is there a better decade for Sit Coms than the 70’s?
Proper characters I could relate too, working class people struggling with all that life throws at them such as On The Buses, Steptoe & Son (started in 60’s) and Alf Garnett (again started the decade before)

Of course there was some right dodgy shite like Mind your language and Love Thy Neighbour but then there was Rising Damp, Please Sir and Dads Army.
My favourite one though was Citizen Smith. Came along just as I was finding my way into left wing politics as a mid to late teen and was always rooting for Wolfie. I wanted him to succeed, wanted him to lead the “brothers” onto the glorious revolution even though it got no further than the pub…….

For me sit coms died a death when The Good Life came along. Characters I not only couldn’t relate too, but for whom I couldn’t have given a toss for.
I couldn’t give a toss if Felicity Kendall’s carrots didn’t grow…….
Maybe the one exception was Fawlty Towers. Certainly the characters (the residents) were not working class and Basil positively sneered at the riff raff he thought were frequenting the hotel, but then we were laughing at Basil, not with him.

Early Doors, Royle Family, Phoenix Nights etc brought the working class sit com back into life.
Click to expand...
The Good Life was still a class war though, where the posh neighbours had to live next to poor (ie now working class) people.

It was a gentle comedy similar to so many around that time. They’re quite enjoyable to watch now but I don’t think the younger generations will get it. Not a classic but Paul Eddington was a classy actor.

I find myself drawn to That’s TV on Freeview now, watching this old stuff. Man About the House doesn’t even seem as terrible as I remember.
 
Citizen of Legoland said:
The Good Life was still a class war though, where the posh neighbours had to live next to poor (ie now working class) people.

It was a gentle comedy similar to so many around that time. They’re quite enjoyable to watch now but I don’t think the younger generations will get it. Not a classic but Paul Eddington was a classy actor.

I find myself drawn to That’s TV on Freeview now, watching this old stuff. Man About the House doesn’t even seem as terrible as I remember.
Click to expand...

I think that's a good comment - the quality of the cast carried some of the thinness. As others have commented on other programmes, it didn't stay on too long.

I agree that it's likely that the changes in society in 40+ years (or nearly 50 for The Good Life) makes them a bit harder to understand. See also To The Manor Born - great cast, gentle comedy about a class clash.
 
MillionMilesAway said:
I think that's a good comment - the quality of the cast carried some of the thinness. As others have commented on other programmes, it didn't stay on too long.

I agree that it's likely that the changes in society in 40+ years (or nearly 50 for The Good Life) makes them a bit harder to understand. See also To The Manor Born - great cast, gentle comedy about a class clash.
Click to expand...
I’m definitely watching old comedies with new eyes. There was an episode of Rising Damp where Rigsby is trying to teach Alan how to charm a posh girl he was dating and the scene involves him to go through how to enter a room, acknowledge the girl, flash the cuff links and adjust the trouser seam before sitting down. The two go back and forth rehearsing this routine, Rigsby is perfect (in his silly way) and does it quicker and quicker but Alan is lost. It must have taken ages to perfect.

I even saw a bit of Oh Dr Beeching and Su Pollard was good in it, but no way would I have watched it back in the day.

That said, Are You Being Served? Again! is still terrible.
 
Citizen of Legoland said:
I’m definitely watching old comedies with new eyes. There was an episode of Rising Damp where Rigsby is trying to teach Alan how to charm a posh girl he was dating and the scene involves him to go through how to enter a room, acknowledge the girl, flash the cuff links and adjust the trouser seam before sitting down. The two go back and forth rehearsing this routine, Rigsby is perfect (in his silly way) and does it quicker and quicker but Alan is lost. It must have taken ages to perfect.

I even saw a bit of Oh Dr Beeching and Su Pollard was good in it, but no way would I have watched it back in the day.

That said, Are You Being Served? Again! is still terrible.
Click to expand...

Rising Damp was great, but before my time. There usually seemed time for the script and acting skills to grow before the inevitable farce ensued.

Beeching was David Croft again.
Quite how Are You Being Served ran for 10 years is baffling - I think it was extremely popular abroad. That was one of Croft's as well.
 
sitting-on-couch-al-bundy.gif
 
A few that have been missed off the list:

Ain't half hot Mum
Two Doors Down
Malcolm in the Middle
The Middle

My Favorite overall is Phoenix Nights followed closely by The Young Ones
 
Only fools & horses
Men behaving badly
Royle Family
Early doors
Office
Extra’s
Inbetweeners
Game on (but not seen it in years)
Bottom
Friends
Phoenix nights/Max & Paddy
Outnumbered
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top